What To Do? :/
polycounter lvl 2
Hello! 
I really need some help making some important decisions. I'm 16 years old and very interested in creating games, especially the art aspect of it and what I'm interested in now, is to create my own game. But I need some help with setting my priorities straight :P
You see, I want to work in the Game Art "department" after my education, and in two years I'm graduating from High School. So I was thinking, what I could do, since I've heard that many of the game art universities (I know that most game art universities are really bad, but there are some good ones too) require pre-hand knowledge of e.g. 3DS Max. So I researched a bit and found out that with a subscription to an online "education" website like Digital Tutors, I could learn the basics and intermediate stuff about 3DS Max and other programs. But that would take up a lot of my time and I wouldn't have the time to make my own game before graduating High School.
So I think, my actual question is if I can just focus on making my own game with e.g. Unreal Engine 4 where I can use Blueprint and not programming, and learn how to make art in a university? Or do I have to learn the basics etc. of a 3D program to be able to study Game Art?
Appreciate the help!
I really need some help making some important decisions. I'm 16 years old and very interested in creating games, especially the art aspect of it and what I'm interested in now, is to create my own game. But I need some help with setting my priorities straight :P
You see, I want to work in the Game Art "department" after my education, and in two years I'm graduating from High School. So I was thinking, what I could do, since I've heard that many of the game art universities (I know that most game art universities are really bad, but there are some good ones too) require pre-hand knowledge of e.g. 3DS Max. So I researched a bit and found out that with a subscription to an online "education" website like Digital Tutors, I could learn the basics and intermediate stuff about 3DS Max and other programs. But that would take up a lot of my time and I wouldn't have the time to make my own game before graduating High School.
So I think, my actual question is if I can just focus on making my own game with e.g. Unreal Engine 4 where I can use Blueprint and not programming, and learn how to make art in a university? Or do I have to learn the basics etc. of a 3D program to be able to study Game Art?
Appreciate the help!
Replies
for direction, since you are still pretty young, I would recommend try a bit of everything, find out what you like, try to find out as much about game development as you can.
but if you really want to learn game art, and just that, you can definitely do that of the internet and forums like PC.
learning basic programming/scripting is pretty easy to be honest, while art can take many years.
so if you are only interested in making awesome game art, just go for it, learn the tools for that and dont worry about programming for now, its always a skill you can ad on later.
I'd like to point out that most everything involving video games is very competitive, purely because it's the sort of thing that seem like it would be fun to lots of people. If you find out you like it, you might end up having a pretty frustrating time trying to actually make a career out of it, because many more people WANT to work in the game industry than the game industry can actually support. Having some sort of general 'plan B' might be a good idea. If it turns out you really enjoy doing something else, that isn't a really over-crowded field, that might a better thing to focus on at some point.
Honestly, so much as opening 3DS max already sets you beyond most people enrolling in game art programs. Depending on the school. But I think getting an eye for the fundamentals is harder to achieve, and you should focus on that for the time being.
Also... yeah, decide what it is you actually want to do. You said you wanted to work in the game art department, so I'm taking you at your word, but keep in mind, that doesn't really mean you 'make a game'. It means you make art assets for a game. I think it's important to learn at least a little bit of design, programming, etc. just to get a better understanding of the bigger picture, and you probably will be taught these things in school, but it's not what you'll be doing. If you want to be a game designer, you should be focusing on completely different objectives
Don't go to art school in America, that's for sure. There's plenty of free tutorials out there that'll get you started. There's no need to make a game before you're out of high school. Just make like art if you want to be a game artist.
You can make games with Unreal 4...but it's not like Blueprints are that much simpler than coding. Doing either requires thinking like a programmer.
No matter what you do though, if you want to be a game artist, make sure you keep drawing.
That being said - you don't really need a university to learn those programs either. Pick a program and google it - you can find a lot of tutorials. apply yourself and really sit down a few hours every day and you'll get the hang of it faster than you think.
if you want to be a game artist, though, you have to know more than just the tools. Learn color theory, composition, anatomy, etc. Draw, take photographs. be an artist.
Start getting your hands dirty early.